The Astros have cut eight more from their Spring Training squad, reassigning Carlos Correa, Darin Downs, Tyler Heineman, James Hoyt and Gregorio Petit while optioning Jake Buchanan, Matt Dominguez and Max Stassi.
Downs, Hoyt, Heineman and Petit will all remain with the team for the exhibition part of Spring Training
The Astros now have 32 players in camp. Their last cut reduced them to 41 players, then Dan Johnson departed via trade to reduce that to 40.
These cuts clear up a couple of position battles that were becoming kind of obvious anyhow. Firstly, at catcher, Castro and Conger will split the catching duties (with Gattis available only for emergencies given he has yet to appear behind the plate in the Spring Training game). No surprise there, although Stassi could encourage the Astros to make a trade with a strong year at Fresno. Stassi logged 19 plate appearances, walking three times and striking out twice. He managed 6 hits, including 2 doubles and a home run. If he needed a good offensive season, this was a reasonable start - small sample size be damned.
Secondly, Valbuena looks poised to assume the third base duties, which has been becoming increasingly obvious for a while as well. Valbuena has the huge advantage of swinging from the left side of the dish, which helps address the Astros' struggles against right-handed pitching last year. Additionally, Dominguez had a horror 2014 which resulted in a WAR well into negative figures. He looked lost at the plate at times last year, swinging a pitches out of the strike zone as well as having contact issues with pitches inside the strike zone.
In Spring Training this year, Matty D had 38 plate appearances, walking twice, striking out 5 times, and hitting 9 singles. His triple-slash of .250/.282/.250 looks similar to the 2014 regular season, except for the total lack of power. So Valbuena gets the third base job to start the season, and Dominguez appears ticketed for the minors. The real question is whether Dominguez can hold his 40-man roster spot - especially if Joe Thatcher and/or Roberto Hernandez make the 25-man roster. My pick is that he does hold his roster spot until at least mid-season-ish.
Correa and Heineman had no real chance of making the team by virtue of their relatively junior status. I was watching when Correa effortlessly drove a curveball that he was out on front of over the LF fence against the Phillies the other day. Correa had 43 plate appearances, walked twice and struck out 10 times, and had 14 hits, of which 1 was a double and two were home runs. I am looking forward to watching him everyday in the majors, perhaps as soon as later this year.
Heineman was unsurprisingly used sparingly in Spring Traning - if he is the catcher of the future, then he is a wee way away, after all. He had 7 plate appearances, and recorded a double against no strikeouts and no walks. His focus was not really on his hitting this Spring - he was more in camp to learn how to work with the pitching staff and get tips from the older guys.
Hoyt, Buchanan and Downs had an opportunity to add their names to a crowded 'pen situation, but all represent easy cuts for the Astros to make.
James Hoyt has not yet made the the majors, so the chances were that he was always going to be cut prior to the roster being set. He equipped himself well, pitching 8.1 innings in 7 games, allowing 8 baserunners (3 hits and 5 walks) while striking out 11.
Jake Buchanan was also an easy cut because he seems - and always seemed - destined to be shuttling between the majors and minors this season. He also threw 8.1 innings pitched, but gave up 7R / 5ER on 12 hits and 3 walks against 4 strikeouts. He was doing well until he had one bad outing, I seem to remember, but he has marginal stuff and needs to locate his pitches to be effective.
Darin Downs was on the outside-looking-in from early in spring training, thanks to the offseason additions of Thatcher (in the LOOGY role) and the various other additions like Straily and Hernandez in the starting role. He struggled in a small sample: 4.2IP, 11 hits and 4 walks, 7 runs / earned runs, and 3 strikeouts. Downs can pitch better than that, and will have an opportunity to work it all out at Fresno.
Finally, Gregorio Petit lost out on a battle for a utility job thanks to the combined efforts of Marwin Gonzalez - who has been a solid bench guy for the Astros for a couple of seasons - and Jonathan Villar - whose demise has been greatly exaggerated.
Petit managed 27 plate appearances, recorded 8 hits, walked 3 times, and struck out five. He hit two doubles. Petit did his stock no harm at all, and will be a very useful AAA depth-piece for the Astros going forward.
The next cut will be the big one, and will probably occur shortly. At least this year, the Astros have actual competition, and actual options.
Stay posted.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label Darin Downs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darin Downs. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, June 2, 2014
In Praise of the Astros Bullpen
We have spent a lot of space on this site lamenting the state of the Astros bullpen in recent years. We even adopted the Goatpen moniker to describe their collective performance. Well, it might be time to retire that name.
In April, it was more of the same. Despite Luhnow making the bullpen a priority in the offseason, the Astros ended April with a league worst 5.85 bullpen era, a -.9 WAR and 6 Blown Saves. Jerome Williams led the way with 16 IP and 6.75 ERA, with Bass and Clemens taking the second and third most IP, and put up a 4.61 and and 4.73 collectively. Fields imploded at the end of the month and ended up with a 9.58 ERA, and the designated lefties in the pen, Chapman and Valdes, only pitched 7 innings, but still managed to walk 10 batters.
But May has been a new day. Jerome Williams still leads the way in IP, but has performed better with a 3.86 ERA. And with the rest of the bullpen pitching like they have, he hasn't been asked to preserve many leads in high leverage situations. Tony Sipp has been a revelation, pitching 9.2 innings, and allowing only two singles and an intentional walk, with 13 K's and 0 runs. Qualls has cemented himself in the closer spot, and has also not allowed a run in May. And between Darin Downs (2.16 ERA) and Sipp, they have two lefties who can actually be trusted to pitch to the occasional right handed batter, and who won't walk the lefties they are asked to face. Fields has been down to the farm, and since his return has been phenomenal, with 13 K's, 2 walks and 2 hits in 8.2 innings. His ERA is still struggling from the implosion, which carried over into May, but his FIP is a microscopic .69 for the month. As a group, for the month, the ERA is 3.33, with a 3.03 FIP. Over the last 14 days, its an incredible 1.53, best in the majors.
All of this has been done without two of the three major offseason acquisitions, as neither Albers or Crain have pitched an inning this month. If this pitching continues, there will be some tough choices to make about who gets the boot when they come back, something I never dreamed of saying in April of this year.
In April, a horrid BABIP and an even worse bullpen were masking the real improvements made to this team. In May, both have been fixed, and it lead to the Astros best month since 2010.
In April, it was more of the same. Despite Luhnow making the bullpen a priority in the offseason, the Astros ended April with a league worst 5.85 bullpen era, a -.9 WAR and 6 Blown Saves. Jerome Williams led the way with 16 IP and 6.75 ERA, with Bass and Clemens taking the second and third most IP, and put up a 4.61 and and 4.73 collectively. Fields imploded at the end of the month and ended up with a 9.58 ERA, and the designated lefties in the pen, Chapman and Valdes, only pitched 7 innings, but still managed to walk 10 batters.
But May has been a new day. Jerome Williams still leads the way in IP, but has performed better with a 3.86 ERA. And with the rest of the bullpen pitching like they have, he hasn't been asked to preserve many leads in high leverage situations. Tony Sipp has been a revelation, pitching 9.2 innings, and allowing only two singles and an intentional walk, with 13 K's and 0 runs. Qualls has cemented himself in the closer spot, and has also not allowed a run in May. And between Darin Downs (2.16 ERA) and Sipp, they have two lefties who can actually be trusted to pitch to the occasional right handed batter, and who won't walk the lefties they are asked to face. Fields has been down to the farm, and since his return has been phenomenal, with 13 K's, 2 walks and 2 hits in 8.2 innings. His ERA is still struggling from the implosion, which carried over into May, but his FIP is a microscopic .69 for the month. As a group, for the month, the ERA is 3.33, with a 3.03 FIP. Over the last 14 days, its an incredible 1.53, best in the majors.
All of this has been done without two of the three major offseason acquisitions, as neither Albers or Crain have pitched an inning this month. If this pitching continues, there will be some tough choices to make about who gets the boot when they come back, something I never dreamed of saying in April of this year.
In April, a horrid BABIP and an even worse bullpen were masking the real improvements made to this team. In May, both have been fixed, and it lead to the Astros best month since 2010.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
All kinds of tranzactionz
Big goings on today in Astros camp as the regular season gets down-under way (get it?). As an aside, I had every intention of watching the season opener at 3am. I went to bed at a reasonable time, and the daughter woke up at 2:30. I got her taken care of, and put her back down at 2:45, sat on the couch ready to go and...fell asleep. Woke up at 7:00. Any of y'all watch?
Anyhow, let's run down everything that has happened in the last 15 hours.
*Peter Moylan tore his UCL, and is likely headed for another Tommy John surgery (he had a first in 2008).
*The Astros optioned lefty reliever Darin Downs to OKC and reassigned Gregorio Petit and Japhet Amador to minor-league camp. As Drellich noted, if the Astros are going to have a 2nd lefty out of the bullpen (assuming Kevin Chapman is the primary lefty), it's going to be Raul Valdez - who doesn't have any options left. It also looks likely that Jesus Guzman and Marc Krauss are going to make the team.
*The Astros released J.D. Martinez.
Anyhow, let's run down everything that has happened in the last 15 hours.
*Peter Moylan tore his UCL, and is likely headed for another Tommy John surgery (he had a first in 2008).
*The Astros optioned lefty reliever Darin Downs to OKC and reassigned Gregorio Petit and Japhet Amador to minor-league camp. As Drellich noted, if the Astros are going to have a 2nd lefty out of the bullpen (assuming Kevin Chapman is the primary lefty), it's going to be Raul Valdez - who doesn't have any options left. It also looks likely that Jesus Guzman and Marc Krauss are going to make the team.
*The Astros released J.D. Martinez.
Martinez was supposed to have a relatively high salary for a Triple A player this year. Said might have spooked teams, but can negotiate now
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 22, 2014
This saddens me. Because for a couple of years it was really fun to do the minor-league recaps, as Martinez pretty much always hit. From 2009-11 Martinez never posted a minor-league OPS under .939. But it just didn't translate to the Majors. Martinez had a .742 OPS in his major-league debut, but declined to .685 in 2012 and .650 in 2013.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Astros will make a run at Tanaka
We interrupt this holiday break to bring you a few items of note...
As expected, the Astros will make a run at Masahiro Tanaka, according to Evan Drellich, though - also expected - the Astros are a long shot to land him.
The Yankees are poised to make a run. What are the chances the Astros would actually be able to outspend them? What are the chances that Tanaka would rather live in Houston and pitch for a rebuilding team when he could live in New York and pitch for the game's most famous franchise, even in the unlikelihood the Astros made the highest bid?
Yep, that's a whole lot of bummer right there.
Also...
*Brian McTaggart has ten questions heading into 2014 ("When Is Springer Coming Up?" is among them!)
*Darin Downs found out the Astros claimed him when he was getting ready to drive his pregnant wife to the hospital.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Astros claim Darin Downs
Here's something:
Downs, who will be 29 in December, is a 6'3" 210lb LHP and was the Cubs' 5th Round pick in 2003. Given that he made his major-league debut in July 2012, he's not arbitration-eligible until 2016, so he'll be making league minimum for the next two seasons.
In 29 appearances for the Tigers in 2013 (35.1IP), Downs allowed 36H/19ER, 37K:11BB, 4HR, for a 4.84 ERA/1.33 WHIP. Up until June 1, though, Downs' season was going pretty well: 22.1IP, 16H/7ER, 25K:6BB - a 2.52 ERA/0.99 WHIP on a .245 BABIP. Of course he pitched in two of the four May games at Minute Maid Park and allowed 3H/0ER, 5K:0BB in 2.2IP.
Then things got away from him in June, when he allowed earned runs in five of his six appearances for a 10.57 ERA/2.35 WHIP on a .600 BABIP (regressing to the mean is a bitch).
He mainly throws a fastball (89.7mph) and a slider (85.2mph), mixing in an 84mph changeup in there, as well. I can see Downs coming in as a lefty specialist - he held lefties to a .219/.265/.359 line in 2013 (compared to .306/.378/.514 line vs. RHBs). And, at 29, he can buy the rest of the team beer.
In other Tigers/Astros-related news, Detroit announced that they have declined the 2014 option on former Astro Jose Veras.
The #Astros have officially claimed LHP Darin Downs (@DDowns99) off waivers from Detroit. He made 29 apps. for the Tigers last season.
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 1, 2013
Downs, who will be 29 in December, is a 6'3" 210lb LHP and was the Cubs' 5th Round pick in 2003. Given that he made his major-league debut in July 2012, he's not arbitration-eligible until 2016, so he'll be making league minimum for the next two seasons.
In 29 appearances for the Tigers in 2013 (35.1IP), Downs allowed 36H/19ER, 37K:11BB, 4HR, for a 4.84 ERA/1.33 WHIP. Up until June 1, though, Downs' season was going pretty well: 22.1IP, 16H/7ER, 25K:6BB - a 2.52 ERA/0.99 WHIP on a .245 BABIP. Of course he pitched in two of the four May games at Minute Maid Park and allowed 3H/0ER, 5K:0BB in 2.2IP.
Then things got away from him in June, when he allowed earned runs in five of his six appearances for a 10.57 ERA/2.35 WHIP on a .600 BABIP (regressing to the mean is a bitch).
He mainly throws a fastball (89.7mph) and a slider (85.2mph), mixing in an 84mph changeup in there, as well. I can see Downs coming in as a lefty specialist - he held lefties to a .219/.265/.359 line in 2013 (compared to .306/.378/.514 line vs. RHBs). And, at 29, he can buy the rest of the team beer.
In other Tigers/Astros-related news, Detroit announced that they have declined the 2014 option on former Astro Jose Veras.
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